Does any sound better represent the inexorable march of time and the transitory nature of beauty and power than the ticking of a clock? Volkmar Klien’s installation at Belvedere draws on this premise to produce a memorable contribution to the Carlone Contemporary art series.
- Fascinating installation based around a pendulum clock and peacock feathers
- Curated by Stella Rollig
- Runs Sept 29, 2021 – Feb 6, 2022
- See also:
- Art exhibitions in Vienna
Anschwellen – Abschwellen
(Volkmar Klien, Anschwellen – Abschwellen (Detail), 2019/21; photo: Johannes Stoll / Belvedere, Wien © Bildrecht, Wien, 2021)
I have a disturbed relationship to peacocks, thanks to spending the night camping just yards away from a bird whose early morning calls would wake the dead.
Ah, but the beauty of the peacock’s tail still fascinates. One of nature’s wonders – a shimmering haze of blues that rises and falls and seems somehow too resplendent for our trivial lives.
Anyway, the peacock’s fan makes up one element of Volkmar Klien’s fascinating installation as part of the ongoing Carlone Contemporary series at Upper Belvedere.
The series places one or more pieces of contemporary art in the Baroque surrounds of Belvedere’s Carlone Hall, with its ceiling fresco by Carlo Innocenzo Carlone. The resulting juxtapositions often prove remarkably intriguing.
Klien’s contribution involves sound, movement and colour.
A ticking of a large neo-gothic pendulum clock increases in volume (Anschwellen) to a crescendo of sound, then fades away again (Abschwellen), accompanied by the opening (and folding) of a peacock feather display.
The concept seems particularly resonant for the times we live in and the location. The pre-digital clock in a historical venue. The apparent striving for attention and dominance that proves ephemeral and falls away until the next turn of the neverending wheel of time.
Change and repetition.
Klien has long tackled the audible arts, exploring such areas as the listening experience beyond conventional situations like concert halls. His works have appeared in numerous prestigious locations, including Vienna’s own Volksoper and Musikverein venues, the Frankfurt Ballet, and London’s Portabello Festival.
An accomplished composer and performer of (electronic) music, Klien currently leads the Institute for Composition, Conducting and Computer Music at the Anton Bruckner University, where he is Professor for Composition.
Tickets and dates
Enjoy Klien’s installation from September 29th, 2021 to February 6th, 2022. A normal ticket to Upper Belvedere gets you into the exhibition (or a suitable sightseeing pass).
A couple of other temporary exhibitions occupy the galleries at Upper Belvedere at the same time…
Discover the (mythical?) idyll of Biedermeier art with Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller and colleagues. Or explore three works in detail as part of the In Blick series – this time looking at paintings and painters that straddled east and west.
How to get to the exhibition
Follow the directions for Upper Belvedere. Once inside, the first room on the right is the Carlone Hall with Klien’s work. Continue through for the medieval masterpieces, then back and up for Klimt and others.
Address: Prinz Eugen-Straße 27, 1030 Vienna